Classifications

• • C—CHEMISTRY; METALLURGY
  • C07—ORGANIC CHEMISTRY
  • C07J—STEROIDS
  • C07J63/00—Steroids in which the cyclopenta(a)hydrophenanthrene skeleton has been modified by expansion of only one ring by one or two atoms

Definitions

• Glycyrrhizin a saponin of licorice root, its aglycone, glycyrrhetinic acid, and their soluble derivatives have an excellent antiinflammatory effect, and their pharmacological effects as medicines for peptic ulcer and allergic disorders have been highly evaluated clinically.
• their administration in higher dosages for a long period results in so-called pseudoaldosteronism such as hypertension, hypopotassemia, and edema owing to abnormal metabolism of electrolytes. Therefore, the use of these medicines is regulated in the amounts to be administered.
• the present inventors Shibata, Kumagai and others, assumed that the foregoing aldosterone-like action (side effect) of glycyrrhetinic acid is ascribable to the fact that glycyrrhetinic acid inhibits the activity of ⁇ 4 -5 ⁇ and 6 ⁇ -reductase, which performs metabolism of aldosterone in the liver, leading to enhancement of the activity of aldosterone; thus, the present inventors have made assiduous investigations in order to obtain a compound which can reduce or remove the aldosterone-like action (side effect) of glycyrrhetinic acid and yet retain or enhance characteristic physiological activities of glycyrrhetinic acid.
• olean-12-ene-3 ⁇ , 30-diol is the most appropriate as a compound which can achieve the objective. Accordingly, this compound olean-12-ene-3 ⁇ , 30-diol is devoid of side effects of glycyrrhetinic acid and yet shows excellent results, as seen from experimental results in examples (B, C, and D) hereinafter provided, in tests for antiulcer, antiinflammatory, and antiallergic activities.
• the preparation of the compound olean-12-ene-3 ⁇ , 30-diol has been described by L. Canonica et al.; Gazz. Chim. Ital., 97, 1347 (1967) and by Ryabinin and Konovalova Zh. Obshch. Khim. 32, 644 (1962). Such a process is shown in Chart 1. ##
• the primary object of the present invention is to obtain a remedy which is devoid of a side effect of glycyrrhetinic acid called pseudoaldosteronism and yet has excellent antiulcer, antiinflammatory, and antiallergic activities, although it has been known that glycyrrhetinic acid, its derivatives, and its salts have beneficial clinical effects against peptic ulcer, inflammation, and allergy, developing, however, pseudoaldosteronism on their long-term administration.
• pseudoaldosteronism a side effect of glycyrrhetinic acid
• Another object of the present invention is to provide a useful industrial process for safely mass-producing the compound olean-12-ene-3 ⁇ , 30-diol described above which is devoid of side effects of glycyrrhetinic acid by production steps much simpler than those of the known method shown in Chart 1 in high yield and at low cost.
• the present inventors could confirm excellent effects of this compound olean-12-ene-3 ⁇ , 30-diol, which is devoid of side effects of glycyrrhetinic acid, as an antiulcer, antiinflammatory, and antiallergic agent by several experiments hereinafter described which were carried out to attain the foregoing objects.
• a new and useful process of the present invention for producing the compound olean-12-ene-3 ⁇ , 30-diol devoid of side effects of glycyrrhetinic acid can be said to be desirable as an industrial process.
• the compounds (I), (II), (III), and (IV) described above were investigated as to their effects upon ⁇ 4 -5 ⁇ -5 ⁇ -reductase which metabolizes aldosterone in the liver.
• glycyrrhetinic acid (II) strongly inhibited the activity of the reductase, olean-12-ene-3 ⁇ , 30-diol (I) which had been obtained by modifying the 11- and 30- positions of glycyrrhetinic acid (II) by reduction showed no inhibitory activity against 5 ⁇ ,5 ⁇ -reductase in the liver.
• Rat livers were perfused with saline and excised to prepare a 25% or 50% homogenate with a solution of 0.25 M sucrose and 1 mM EDTA.
• the homogenate was spun at 10,000 g for 20 minutes to separate supernatant, which was centrifuged again at 105,000 g to obtain ⁇ 4 -5 ⁇ -reductase as the supernatant.
• the pellet was appropriately diluted with a solution of 0.25 M sucrose-1 mM EDTA to use as a 5 ⁇ -reductase solution.
• the components 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 , 5 , and 6 mentioned above were mixed to bring the total volume up to 2.5 ml.
• the mixture was incubated at 37° C. for 20 minutes. Before the incubation, however, 1 ml aliquot was removed from 2.5 ml of the mixture mentioned above and extracted with 5 ml of methylene dichloride. After the incubation, the remaining 1.5 ml was extracted with 5 ml of methylene dichloride.
• the optical density of the two methylene dichloride solutions prepared before and after the incubation was measured by a spectrophotometer (Hitachi) at 240 m ⁇ . Inhibition % of ⁇ 4 -5 ⁇ and 5 ⁇ -reductase activity was calculated from the difference in the optical density.
• the experimental results are as follows:
• mice Male ddY mice weighing about 20 g were made to fast for 18 hours. Water was given freely. Compounds to be tested were suspended in Tween 80 to prepare an aqueous suspension and administered orally. Immediately thereafter, the mice were subjected to restraint plus water immersion stress (25° C.) for 6 hours. Thereafter, the stomach was excised and fixed by formalin. The degree of ulcer was shown as a total of the length. The control group was given only the solvent.
• mice Male Wister rats weighing about 220 g were made to fast for 24 hours. Water was given freely. The rats were laparotomized under anesthesia with ether. The stomach was drawn out and ligated at the pylorus. Immediately thereafter, 1% CMC suspension of aspirin was administered orally in a dose of 100 mg/kg/5 ml. Aqueous suspensions of compounds to be tested were prepared in the same manner as in the experiment (a) and administered intraduodenally at the same time. The wound was closed and the rats were set free. After 7 hours, the stomach was excised and ulcer was measured in the same manner as in the experiment (a).
• mice Male Wister rats weighing 120-140 g were made to fast for 24 hours, and compounds to be tested were administered orally. After 5 hours, the rats were killed by a blow. The stomach was excised and observed for the presence of ulcer.
• ulcer index (ulcer length ⁇ width mm 2 ).
• Chronic gastric ulcers were induced by penetrating 100% acetic acid serosally into gastric wall for 60 sec. using a small cup (6 mm in diameter, 5 mm in height).
• Olean-12-ene-3 ⁇ -ol 30-oic acid (III) of which only the 11-position had been reduced showed the effect in a dose of 200 mg/kg as with glycyrrhetinic acid (II).
• the present compound olean-12-ene-3 ⁇ , 30-diol (I) was administered orally to male ddY mice weighing 25-27 g. After 30 minutes, saline containing 0.7% acetic acid was administered intraperitoneally. The number of writhings of the mice was counted for 10 minutes from, 10 min. of the administration. Aspirin was used as the reference.
• the present compound olean-12-ene-3 ⁇ , 30-diol (I) has an inhibitory activity against inflammation, but the activity is inferior to that of aspirin. When used in combination with aspirin, the compound will not affect the inhibitory activity of aspirin.
• a solution of antigen and pigment a solution of 0.4% egg albumin and 0.5% Pontamine sky blue
• both of the present compound olean-12-ene-3 ⁇ , 30-diol (I) and glycyrrhetinic acid (II) showed an inhibition rate of less than 50%.
• the activity of (I) is a little stronger than that of (II).
• the present compound olean-12-3 ⁇ , 30-diol (I), which is obtained by reductively modifying the 11- and 30-positions of glycyrrhetinic acid (II), is entirely devoid of aldosterone-like action of glycyrrhetinic acid; further, as can be seen from pharmacological activities in Experiment B, C, and D described above, the compound nonetheless retains an antiulcer activity characteristic of glycyrrhetinic acid and even tends to enhance the antiulcer activity.
• the present compound also shows antiinflammatory and antiallergic activities to such an extent as to fulfil the present inventors' expectations.
• mice To male mice (ddY) weighing 24 g-26 g, 10 mice in one group, compounds to be tested (suspended in Tween 80) in various doses of the ratio (1, 2) were administered (orally and intraperitoneally), and LD 50 was determined by the Litchfield-Wilcoxon method.
• Intraperitoneal administration LD 50 455 mg/kg
• olean-12-ene-3 ⁇ , 30-diol form the following esters with organic acids and inorganic acids which are also within the scope of the Invention.
• esters are more soluble in water than olean-12-ene-3 ⁇ , 30-diol.
• Those compounds are preferably administered orally, but parenteral routes, topical treatment can also be employed.
• Suitable forms for oral administration include liquids (such as polyethylene glycol solutions), tablets, solid suspensions and capsules.
• the daily dose for an adult is generally about 0.6 to 20 milligrams per kilogram of body weight in oral administration, and about 30 to about 1,000 milligrams per day in oral administration calculated on the body weight of the adult as 50 kilograms.
• the present compound olean-12-ene-3 ⁇ , 30-diol has been found to fulfil the present inventors' expectations as a result of pharmacological experiments with several compounds synthesized by modifying glycyrrhetinic acid as described at the outset of the detailed description of the invention in the specification; however, the olean-12-ene-3 ⁇ , 30-diol used in these pharmacological experiments was synthesized according to the known method described in the literature (L. Canonica et al.; Gazz. Chim. Ital. 96, 833 (1966) and 97, 86 (1977)), so the method will be shown below as an example.
• the gist of the new process for preparation of olean-12-ene-3 ⁇ , 30-diol is characterized in that glycyrrhetinic acid (olean-12-ene-11-oxo-3 ⁇ -ol-30-oic acid) is reduced to the triol compound (olean-12-ene-3 ⁇ , 11 ⁇ , 30-triol), then the triol compound obtained is catalytically reduced to obtain the desired product.
• the catalyst was removed by filtration, the solvent evaporated, and the residue separated by silica gel column using chloroform-methanol as developing solvent.
• the product was recrystallized from tetrahydrofuran to afford 3.81 g of crystalline white powders of olean-12-ene-3 ⁇ , 30-diol.

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• Chemical & Material Sciences (AREA)
• Organic Chemistry (AREA)
• Health & Medical Sciences (AREA)
• General Health & Medical Sciences (AREA)
• Steroid Compounds (AREA)
• Organic Low-Molecular-Weight Compounds And Preparation Thereof (AREA)
• Acyclic And Carbocyclic Compounds In Medicinal Compositions (AREA)

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Citations (5)

• 1981
  • 1981-03-13 IT IT819373A patent/IT1167857B/it active
  • 1981-03-24 DE DE19813111522 patent/DE3111522A1/de active Granted
  • 1981-03-27 US US06/248,222 patent/US4374284A/en not_active Expired - Fee Related
  • 1981-04-01 GB GB8110193A patent/GB2075835B/en not_active Expired
• 1983
  • 1983-09-07 GB GB08324020A patent/GB2134525B/en not_active Expired

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